Trump’s D.C. police takeover; Anas al-Sharif killing; new Taylor Swift album; and more
The 7
The Washington Post
4.6 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 12 August 2025
⏱️ 10 minutes
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Summary
Tuesday, August 12. The seven stories you need to know today.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm announcing a historic action to rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor, and worse. |
| 0:11.5 | President Donald Trump ordered a federal takeover of D.C. police. |
| 0:17.6 | That's where we're starting The Seven from the Washington Post. I'm Hannah Jewell. It's Tuesday, August 12th. Let's get you caught up with today's seven stories. |
| 0:31.3 | President Trump announced yesterday that he was stripping the leadership of Washington, D.C., of its ability to make law enforcement |
| 0:39.3 | decisions. Instead, D.C. police will come under direct federal control, and Trump is deploying |
| 0:47.2 | 800 National Guard troops to the streets of the nation's capital to fight crime. This is an extraordinary flex of federal power. |
| 0:57.0 | Under DC's Home Rule Act, the president can take over the DC police for a period of up to 30 days, |
| 1:04.0 | if he declares that, quote, special conditions of an emergency nature exist. |
| 1:10.0 | According to Trump, crime in the city constitutes such an emergency. |
| 1:14.8 | Here's how he described it at a news conference at the White House yesterday. |
| 1:18.2 | Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, |
| 1:25.4 | drugged out maniacs and homeless people, and we're not going to let it happen |
| 1:30.2 | anymore. We're not going to take it. Violent crime in D.C. has actually significantly decreased since |
| 1:36.7 | 2023. Reacting to the news, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said she intended to comply with the order. |
| 1:46.2 | She made it clear that she believed she had little power under the Home Rule Act to do otherwise. Whether the Trump administration |
| 1:52.1 | will try and extend its federal takeover beyond 30 days is unclear. For more on this story, |
| 1:59.6 | check out the latest episode of Post Reports. |
| 2:05.1 | Number two is a post-exclusive. The Pentagon has drafted plans to create a military reaction |
| 2:13.0 | force to deal with civil unrest. Trump's deployment of the National Guard to D.C. yesterday was the latest example of him |
| 2:21.8 | summoning the military for domestic purposes. He previously sent the National Guard and |
| 2:28.1 | U.S. Marines to Los Angeles in response to protests against federal immigration raids. |
| 2:34.1 | And according to internal Pentagon papers seen by the post, |
... |
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